Belarus

Belarus

Republic of Belarus

Europe

Geography

Area: 207,600 sq km

Landlocked; fertile agricultural land with extensive forests on the North European plains. Surrounded by Russia,
Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Smallest of the three Slavic nations of the former USSR.

Religion

Challenges for Prayer

Foreign missionary presenceis slowly being squeezed out by refusing visas for foreign religious workers; Catholic missionaries have been the most frequent victims of this approach. Even Slavs from neighbouring countries who have been specifically invited by churches to teach are often refused permission. Pray for divine openings and opportunities for those God is calling into Belarus; pray also that the national Church would be specially enabled to evangelize, disciple and minister without the partnership of many foreign Christian workers.

The less-evangelized. There are some significant non-Christian minorities:

a)Jews.As many as 70,000 Jews live in Belarus, mostly in Minsk, but their numbers are declining. There is a Messianic Jewish group in Minsk, but the majority still need to be reached.

b)Muslims.Smaller groups of Muslims are immigrating from elsewhere in the former USSR, adding to the Tatar population, resident since the 15th Century. Very few Muslims have had a chance to encounter the good news.